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Ni Yan

B.A., Shenyang Conservatory of Music; M. Mus., University of Cincinnati

Biography:

A native of Harbin, China, NI YAN received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Shenyang Conservatory of Music. Upon her graduation, she was appointed the Principal Harp with the China Radio Symphony in Beijing. In 1986, she joined the United States International University Orchestra in San Diego. Following this, she moved to Cincinnati where she completed her Master of Music degree at the University of Cincinnati in 1989. She has performed in Paris, London, Mexico, San Diego, Cincinnati, Dayton (Ohio), as well as Philadelphia and Chicago. She is in demand as Principal Harp with several regional orchestras of Central Ohio, as well as performing as Substitute Principal Harp and Second Harp for the Columbus Symphony. She has been invited to China to participate in the Second Shenyang International Music Festival in May 1994 and has been featured as soloist with various orchestras, and in chamber music performances throughout Central Ohio. As a member of Lyric Harp Duo, she has arranged and recorded a CD, (Jude Mollenhauer & Yan Ni) “Holiday Harps.” In 2010, Ni Yan was named Visiting Professor of Harp at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music.

She lives in Dublin, Ohio, and maintains a busy free-lance and teaching schedule.

Ping Yang joined the Communication Department Fall 2009. Her teaching and scholarship focus on the intersection of culture, communication, and technology. She is currently working on projects that examine ethnic minority identity, heritage language education, and identities construction in intercultural online communication. Ping will be teaching COMM 244: Theories of Intercultural Communication and COMM 215: Communication and Technology in the fall semester. Ping has great interest in learning new cultures, languages, and people. She also enjoys reading, travelling, watching movies, and spending time with family and friends.

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Shao-yun Yang

B.A., M.A., National University of Singapore; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley

Biography:

Shao-yun Yang studies the intellectual history of medieval China (between 300 and 1500 CE), with particular interest in Chinese perceptions of and interactions with other ethnocultural groups. At Denison, he teaches a two-part survey of East Asian history and upper-level courses on the history of Chinese identity; China under the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE); Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in Chinese history; and the representation of modern Chinese, Japanese, and Korean history in film.

Dr. Yang has published in the journal Tang Studies and contributed essays to two forthcoming edited volumes: Chang'an 26 BCE: An Augustan Age in China? (University of Washington Press, 2014) and Political Strategies of Identity-Building in Non-Han Empires in China (Harrasowitz Verlag, 2014). His first book project, provisionally titled Reinventing the Barbarian: Rhetorical and Philosophical Uses of the Chinese-Barbarian Dichotomy in Mid-Imperial China, explores the various ways in which the medieval Chinese interpreted and utilized the so-called "Chinese-barbarian dichotomy" - a longstanding belief that the peoples of the world were fundamentally divided between superior Chinese and inferior barbarians. The book demonstrates that during a period stretching from the ninth century to the thirteenth century, understandings of this dichotomy became less centered on ethnic or cultural differences and more interested in interpreting barbarism as a universal moral problem that the Chinese were also susceptible to.

A second-generation descendant of Chinese immigrants to Singapore, Dr. Yang received his BA (2005) and MA (2007) from the National University of Singapore and his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley (2014).

Cancer occurs when a combination of DNA mutations and abnormal gene expression in a cell leads to uncontrolled growth and invasion of surrounding tissues. It is critical to understand how mutations in individual genes, or more specifically, the series of events which occur as a result of those mutations, contribute to the development of tumors.

My research focuses on a gene called Pten which is one of the most commonly mutated genes in human cancer. Previous work has shown that deletion or reduction in Pten function leads to increased cell proliferation, resistance to cell death, and heightened motility and invasiveness. I am interested in identifying the molecular changes which occur when Pten is mutated, and to elucidate the signaling pathways which are affected. In particular, I am studying the mechanism by which Pten deletion leads to increased cell size and the induction of the cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor p21.

As a cell biologist, I use cell culture based methods in which Pten function can be reduced through the use of RNA interference, and assay for altered gene expression in candidate downstream pathways. I am also exploring the molecular basis for why certain tissues are much more susceptible than others to tumor development as a consequence of Pten mutation.